What We’re Reading: “Life for A Child” Documentary

Worldwide, there are nearly half a million children under 15 who have Type 1 diabetes. Of those, many live in nations where tools to manage diabetes are expensive, scarce, and far away. The International Diabetes Federation’s (IDF) Life for A Child Programme provides diabetes supplies to thousands of children in 24 countries worldwide through donations from companies, groups, and individuals. Eli Lilly and Company has pledged 800,000 vials of insulin over the next four years, enough to help 24,000 children with Type 1 diabetes in developing nations.

As part of the program, Lilly Diabetes and the IDF have released a documentary that follows the lives of three children in Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries. The award-winning film, which premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2008, is currently viewable for free at at the video hosting site Hulu.com.

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The children are each supported by the “Life for a Child” program, and the film shows the sacrifices and struggles that they and their families make in order to manage the condition. According to Robert Heine, vice president of medical affairs for Lilly Diabetes, “The availability of this documentary through Hulu.com is an important step for the film and for the IDF’s Life for a Child Programme… it underscores the critical role the Life for a Child Programme plays in getting medicine and care to families in need.”

“Life of a Child” was produced by Lilly Diabetes in colloboration with the International Diabetes Federation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. To find out more, you can visit www.LifeForAChild.org. The film is also available for download from www.Amazon.com; a portion of the proceeds will go to the Life for a Child Programme.

This blog entry was written by Web Intern Helen Zhu.

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